Chapter 3: Severing Ties? Off to the Tidal Flats!

Chu Dashan was pacing anxiously. There were plenty of valuables in the house, and he absolutely couldn’t let that wretched girl Chu Xuan use them to pay off her debts.

Suddenly, Chu Zhi, who had been wailing on the floor, sat up abruptly. “Dad, Mom, did you forget? Didn’t we just split off Chu Xuan and her brother today? That 3,000 yuan debt has nothing to do with us!”

He winked at Feng Chunhua as he spoke.

Feng Chunhua instantly caught on. She slapped her thighs and beamed, “That’s right! We’ve already divided the family with Chu Xuan and Chu Feng. They live in the old house now. If you want to collect, go over there and move their stuff!”

Just then, the village chief, Wang Depin, hurried over and politely said to One-Eyed Dragon, “Dalong! Could I take a look at the IOU?”

They knew each other and had some rapport.

One-Eyed Dragon let go of Chu Xuan’s collar and pulled the IOU from his pocket.

Wang Depin took it and confirmed that it was indeed Chu Xuan who owed the 3,000 yuan.

He handed it back and tried to negotiate, “We know each other. Could you do me a favor and give them a few years’ grace? I’ll vouch for the Chu family and guarantee they’ll pay it back within three years. How about that?”

One-Eyed Dragon pointed at the wardrobe his men had just carried out. “For your sake, we’ll leave these for now. But the Chu family must pay 100 yuan on the 20th of every month. If they don’t pay on time, we’ll be back to move more out! And you can’t stop us then.”

The village chief immediately promised, “I absolutely won’t stop you then.”

One-Eyed Dragon waved his men out the door.

Everyone marveled at how much sway the village chief had.

Feng Chunhua hurried after them, shouting, “Our village chief is vouching for Chu Xuan! If you want to collect, go to the old house and find her. We’ve split the family!”

One-Eyed Dragon shot her a fierce glare. “Who can prove you’ve really split the family?”

And with that, he strode away.

Seeing the debt collectors finally gone and their belongings safe for now, Feng Chunhua flopped to the ground, wailing, “I can’t go on! That wretched Chu Xuan has caused such a disaster—3,000 yuan in debt! She’s going to be the death of me and her father! Village chief, you have to help us make the family split official!”

Chu Zhi added viciously, “Not just split the family—cut all ties!”

Three thousand yuan was no small sum.

The village chief hesitated. “That’s not really appropriate…”

But no matter how much he tried to persuade them, it was useless.

No amount of begging from Chu Xuan and her brother helped.

No pleas from the villagers made a difference.

Feng Chunhua and Chu Dashan simply wouldn’t budge, forcing Chu Xuan and her brother to sign the family separation and severance papers.

In the end, all Chu Xuan and her brother got was the old house and their personal belongings—nothing else.

The village chief wanted to say more, but held back. Maybe this was for the best—it would make it easier for him to help the siblings in the future. As for the debt, perhaps he could contact Chu Xuan’s birth mother for help.

The onlookers gradually dispersed.

Chu Feng, forced out of the family, was in low spirits. He carried his things to the dilapidated old house, and only then did he start to sob, “We have nothing, and the house is so run-down. How can we live here? Won’t it cost money to fix? And you broke that jade ornament of Brother Long’s—how are we supposed to pay 100 yuan every month?”

In her past life, Chu Xuan had put up with this kid for years, but now she had no patience. She kicked him in the butt. “Go inside, put your stuff down, grab a bucket, and come with me to the tidal flats!”

It was almost five o’clock. The king mackerel and the gold ingot had to be hers!

Chu Feng’s butt stung from the kick. Remembering how fierce his sister could be, he didn’t dare cry or fight back. He quickly put his things away, grabbed a bucket and bamboo tongs, and followed his sister out.

When they reached the beach, Chu Xuan glanced toward where the king mackerel would appear. The tide hadn’t fully receded there yet.

Once the tide was out, a fish would get trapped between the rocks. She had to be ready to catch it.

She pointed toward the rocks and ordered, “Xiao Feng, let’s go see if there’s anything over there.”

Chu Feng didn’t dare disagree and nodded quickly.

Two minutes later, they reached the rocks.

Chu Feng immediately spotted an octopus the size of a man’s palm under a rock. He deftly grabbed it with the tongs and tossed it into the bucket, already looking forward to a better dinner tonight.

Chu Xuan bent down to look under another rock and, by chance, saw a small octopus. Just as she was about to grab it, Chu Feng snatched it up and tossed it into the bucket.

When it came to catching octopus, Chu Feng was even more enthusiastic than his sister.

In the past, even after hours at the tidal flats, they might not find a single octopus.

From then on, wherever Chu Xuan went, her little brother followed, obeying her every word.

Chu Xuan’s mind was on the big fish that was about to appear. As she searched under rocks, she found a few tiny crabs and let them go.

The rocks here were big, but Chu Xuan had sharp eyes. A few minutes later, as the tide receded, she spotted a large fish stranded between two rocks.

Chu Feng hadn’t noticed, still searching for seafood.

Chu Xuan grabbed his collar and whispered, “There’s a big fish over there! Don’t make a sound. Let’s hurry over.”

She didn’t want anyone else to come and snatch it.

The two of them rushed over.

Up close, Chu Feng immediately recognized it as a huge mackerel. Chu Xuan could see the excitement in his eyes.

It was over a meter long and looked to weigh sixty or seventy jin—a true king mackerel.

King mackerel have thick, firm, clove-shaped flesh, reddish in color, delicious and with few bones. Everyone in the village loved to eat it.

At this point, the big mackerel was already half-dead and easy to handle.

Chu Xuan barely had to exert herself to hoist it onto her shoulder.

Everyone on the beach who saw the fish gasped in amazement.

Those who’d thought about trying to snatch it didn’t even get the chance—the matter was already settled.

Now that Chu Xuan had it on her shoulder, no one dared try to take it.

Everyone envied the siblings’ luck. Such a big mackerel was a rare sight.

Just then, a couple rushed over, eyes shining.

The woman spoke first, “That king mackerel must taste amazing! Guang, you have to buy it for me! We’ll braise a few pieces at home, make some mackerel dumplings, and pickle the rest. That’ll feed us for two days!”

Qiu Daguang nodded eagerly, rubbing his hands together, already calculating what price to offer. If it was too expensive, he’d wait and try to steal it at night.

Chu Xuan recognized the couple at a glance. The woman was Qi Hong, the man Qiu Daguang—infamous in the village for being lazy and sly, always up to some trick.

In her previous life, when they couldn’t buy the king mackerel, they tried to steal it, but the Chu family caught them in the act.

This couple was notorious for stealing fish from others’ nets at sea, and for stealing vegetables, money, and anything else on land. Later, they even got into child trafficking.

Chu Xuan couldn’t be bothered with them. She hoisted the big mackerel and turned to leave, eager to get home and cut it open for the gold ingot. She had no time to keep fishing.

Qi Hong spread her arms to block her way.

Chu Xuan and Chu Feng shouted in unison, “Get out of the way!”"

"Certainly! Here’s a fluent, natural English translation of your text:

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**Chapter 4: The Gold Ingot**

Qi Hong and Chu Feng were about the same height, around 1.5 meters. If it came to a fight, they’d be evenly matched.

But when Chu Xuan stood next to Qiu Daguang, she was worth two of him.

Seeing that she was outnumbered, Qi Hong had no choice but to step aside.

Chu Xuan greeted Chu Feng, then hefted the fish onto her shoulder and headed toward the old house.

Chu Feng hurried to catch up.

Qi Hong trailed behind, shouting, “I’ll pay fifteen yuan for that king mackerel! I heard you have to pay back a hundred yuan every month, so hurry up and sell the fish!”

Just thinking about how delicious the mackerel would be made her mouth water.

Qiu Daguang felt a pang of regret—fifteen yuan could buy several kilos of pork or a few pig’s feet. Was it really worth spending so much? Wouldn’t it be better to just steal it tonight?

He whispered to his wife, “If we really can’t buy it, I’ll sneak over and steal it tonight!”

Qi Hong pouted in a low voice, “But I want to eat it now! It’s freshest right now!”

Money usually came easily to Qi Hong, so she didn’t really care about spending it.

Ignoring Qiu Daguang, she continued to follow behind Chu Xuan and her brother.

Chu Xuan turned and glared at Qi Hong. “We’re not selling this fish. Stop following us!”

Chu Feng wanted to say they could sell it if the price was right, but he didn’t dare go against his sister and kept quiet.

Qi Hong, emboldened, said, “I really want to buy your big mackerel! I heard the current purchase price is forty yuan per dan, and a dan is only a hundred jin, so that’s forty cents a jin. Your fish is about fifty or sixty jin—let’s say sixty. I’ll pay twenty-four yuan! Think about your family’s debt!”

Chu Xuan snorted. Who was she trying to fool? The price of mackerel depended on the size.

For fish over two jin, the price was at least 160 yuan per dan, which was 1.6 yuan per jin. Even bigger fish fetched higher prices.

Even though Chu Feng was only twelve, he knew a bit about the prices. Walking beside his sister, he glanced at Qi Hong. “Qi Hong, that’s the price for small mackerel. Ours is a rare sixty or seventy jin king mackerel! If we take it to the county, we could easily sell it for a hundred yuan or more!”

Qi Hong clicked her tongue at the price. Even if they took it to the county, it would have to wait until tomorrow morning. Tonight, she’d send her husband to steal it—she refused to believe she wouldn’t get to eat the king mackerel!

Once Chu Xuan was sure Qi Hong had really left, she quickened her pace back to the old house.

When she reached the door, she saw the village chief’s wife, Gao Meijuan, with a pot and a cutting board at her feet. The pot was stuffed with things—rice, flour, vegetables, bowls, chopsticks, a kitchen knife, and so on.

It was obvious she’d come to bring them some supplies.

In her previous life, the village chief’s family had helped Chu Xuan many times. Gao Meijuan was in her forties. According to the complicated web of family relations, Chu Xuan should call her Granny Gao, and the village chief Grandpa Wang.

Chu Xuan had just been thinking of borrowing a kitchen knife and cutting board from her, but here they were, delivered to her door.

With gratitude, she spoke up, “Granny Gao, we caught a king mackerel. I’ll cut off a piece of the tail for you to take home and add to your meal.”

The tail is the tastiest part of the mackerel, and cutting it off would be at least ten jin.

Gao Meijuan smiled kindly and waved her hands. “Xuan, I can’t take it. That king mackerel is worth a lot of money—it’d be a shame to eat it. What you and Feng need most right now is money. Take it to the county and sell it! You’ll get at least a hundred yuan. Once you sell it, you’ll have money to pay your debts this month. You can ask Grandpa Wang to help arrange a tractor to take it. Oh, and everything I brought is for you. If you need anything, just come to my house. I have things to do at home, so I won’t come in.”

She turned and hurried away, afraid that if she stayed, Chu Xuan would insist on giving her some fresh mackerel.

Chu Xuan shook her head helplessly, thinking she’d just send her little brother over with some later.

Even if only most of the fish was left after tonight, it would still be worth plenty.

The siblings carried everything into the yard.

Before they could catch their breath, Chu Xuan told Chu Feng to bolt the door and get ready to clean the fish. Once word got out that they’d caught a king mackerel, villagers would come to gawk. Better to look for the gold ingot now, while no one was around.

Gold prices were up—over a hundred yuan per gram. The gold ingot in the fish’s belly was over twenty grams, worth at least two thousand yuan.

She hoped that, in this life, the gold ingot was still inside the fish.

If so, they’d have money to build a new house.

After Chu Feng bolted the door, he muttered, “It’s a shame not to sell such a valuable fish. We could take it to the county and pay off our debts…”

Chu Xuan didn’t bother to explain, just shot him a glare. “Go get the knife and cutting board!”

Seeing she was about to lose her temper, Chu Feng put down his wooden bucket and hurried off.

Soon, Chu Xuan got to work, swiftly cleaning the fish.

Her eyes were glued to the fish’s belly.

Especially when she took out the innards, Chu Xuan’s eyes widened, not daring to blink for fear of missing the gold ingot.

Her heart was in her throat, worried something might go wrong in this life.

Luckily, after a moment, she really did spot a glint of gold, and finally relaxed.

Feeling cheerful, she decided to tease her little brother. “Feng, what’s that gold stuff in the guts?”

Chu Feng stood by, heart aching at the thought of not selling such a good fish. “Maybe it’s fish roe?”

“I don’t think so.”

Chu Xuan reached in, and the next second, she pulled out a hard, shiny gold object.

Chu Feng jumped in shock. “Whoa, is that a gold ingot? I’ve seen those in New Year paintings!”

Chu Xuan hushed him. “Keep your voice down—luckily there are no neighbors nearby. It does look like a gold ingot. I’ll take it to the county to have someone check. If it’s real, I’ll sell it.”

Though she said that, she was sure it was real gold. She’d sell it, build a new house, and send her brother to school!

She quickly rinsed it, took out a handkerchief from her pocket, dried it, and wrapped it up.

Even though Chu Feng wasn’t well-educated, he knew gold was valuable.

“Th-this…” he whispered, “Sis, if it’s real gold, can you sell it in the county now? Isn’t everyone off work?”

Chu Xuan smiled and whispered back, “If it’s real gold, I’ll sell it to a private buyer. They work at night—don’t worry!”

Chu Feng had a feeling it really was gold, and his hands trembled with excitement. “Be sure to hide it well on the way! I was just thinking of selling the big mackerel—good thing we didn’t.”

He was thrilled.

Chu Xuan put the gold ingot in her pants pocket. “Don’t tell anyone about this. Whether you get to go to school, eat white bread, and live in a new house all depends on this.”

“I promise I won’t tell!”

Chu Feng was smart enough to know that if word got out, their grandparents would come and take it.

Today, their grandparents had insisted on splitting them off from the family, which really hurt him.

He wasn’t about to give them half.

But then he remembered the three-thousand-yuan debt. “Sis, when we have money, let’s pay off the debt first. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

He felt a heavy burden.

Chu Xuan couldn’t bear to keep it from him any longer. “Feng, actually, that three-thousand-yuan IOU is fake. The name and fingerprint aren’t mine. Brother Long was someone I asked to help put on an act. I wanted you to see our grandparents’ and second uncle’s true colors, and to use the chance to split off from them. I’m sorry for worrying you. You’ll keep this secret, right?”"